Untitled

The Omnipendent
The Omnipendent
Omni’s New Home
Barbara Kruger
Druid Street SE1
2 weeks to go
up and running?!
Race Against Time
After over 21 happy years based just off Leather Lane
in Clerkenwell, Omni finally succumbed to the inevitable forces of the property market and had to look for a
new home. With light industrial units for a sensible rent
in central London a scarce commodity it was a huge
relief to find a railway arch, situated in Druid Street close
to Tower Bridge, which is unlikely to be turned into luxury
offices or dwellings. Although the arch had been
refurbished there were extensive works necessary
before we could move in. This included building a
mezzanine floor, fire safety walls and corridors plus a
plethora of electrical installation, principally to run our
equipment. However, delays in signing the lease meant
that the timescale for the work was alarmingly short with
the added complication of a strict deadline to get out of
our old premises where all the power and services were to
be switched off on August 31st.
Thanks to the heroic efforts of our staff and a crack team of
builders we were up and running on September 1st, having
Modern Art Oxford
2 days to go
settled in
Intrepid
In the summer of 2014 Modern Art Oxford held a
monumental solo exhibition of new and recent work by
internationally acclaimed artist, Barbara Kruger. With a
career spanning over more than four decades, Kruger’s
instantly recognisable work combines bold lettering, colours
and dramatic juxtapositions of text and image to investigate
the machinations of power in popular culture today.
lost only one day of production. The first month or so was
spent working in a building site and the final piece of the
jigsaw, the ventilation and air conditioning system was
only completed on Christmas Eve. Despite this somewhat
difficult start, things have turned out rather well with the
three months in the arch being the busiest quarter in
Omni’s history. There is now considerably more room for
current and future needs, and we have been able to tailor
the space to suit our requirements plus we have added
several new machines to our armoury.
The Only Way Is Bermondsey
As well as being just across the bridge from the City
we are also only a short walk from London Bridge
station, Tate Modern, The Design Museum and White Cube
Gallery plus. As an added bonus our next door neighbour
is a brewery, and a few hundred metres down the road is
Maltby Street market –hailed as the “new” Borough Market.
SE1 is the place to be.
For more information visit:
omnicolour.com
As well an installation of classic 1980s paste-up works
and a major film presentation in John Piper Gallery, the
exhibition included a site-specific architectural vinyl wrap
of the entire Upper Gallery, printed and installed by Omni.
The printing, production and installation of the vinyl was
one of the most challenging projects we have undertaken,
involving special vinyl and laminate to cover the uneven
brick surface that made up most of the wall surfaces.
Our intrepid team of installers were put to the test due
to the unusual and irregular nature of the space as you
can see on a time lapse video on the gallery website –
modernartoxford.org.uk.
The artist and the gallery were delighted with the finished
work and the project has taken our experience of vinyl
production and installation yet another step forward.
Image credit: Barbara Kruger, ‘Untitled (Titled)’, 2014
Installation view, Detail
Modern Art Oxford (Upper Gallery)
© Barbara Kruger
Courtesy Sprüth Magers Berlin London
For more information visit:
modernartoxford.org.uk
New Year Edition 2015
The Omnipendent
The Omnipendent
Richard Wentworth
Dazzling Work
Folding History
Augmented Reality
Art on the Underground
Art on the Underground invited leading British artist
Richard Wentworth to create a new work as part of Transport for London’s centenary commemorations of the
First World War, in collaboration with 1418NOW, WW1
Centenary Art Commissions.
If history could be folded, where would you put the crease?
employs mirror writing for a giant poster installation on the
outside hoardings of Southwark Station. The larger of the
two areas is over 23 metres long. Omni were pleased to
produce and install the work on a hard wearing vinyl
with an outdoor seal, as well as effecting some necessary
renovations to the hoardings.
Wentworth also produced work, using the mirror writing
cypher for an installation at Piccadilly Station ticket hall
and posters which can be seen around the tube network.
He made use of the original Johnston font that was introduced on the Tube network in 1916. It was intended as a
Gibson/Martelli
new corporate identity for Underground Group to ensure
that their information posters would not be mistaken for
advertisements, and is still in use today. In reversing this
familiar font, Wentworth explores the space of the
Tube as one of both mass, public and official communication on the one hand, and a private and individual
experience on the other.
During WWI artist Norman Wilkinson invented a type of ship
camouflage consisting of complex intersecting geometric
patterning designed to confuse the enemy. Dazzle
camouflage and machine readable markers (Barcodes,
Augmented Reality, QR codes) are two opposing ways in
which information can be encoded on a surface, one used
in wartime for concealment, the other in peacetime as a
tracking marker or bearer of information.
“As a Londoner I always marvel on the Tube just how much
privacy makes public. We apprehend individual lives like
nowhere else I know, and while everybody plays their
role in this speeding subterranean theatre, we become
London’s public.”
Richard Wentworth
Art on the Underground provides a world class programme
of contemporary art that enriches the Tube environment
and the customers journey experience.
Photos Thierry Bal
Over the past couple of years Omni has worked closely with
artists Ruth Gibson and Bruno Martelli to produce prints and
complex 3D shapes with the printed Dazzle pattern. Much
of the work has been produced on honeycomb and fluted
boards that was then computer cut and creased to achieve
a dazzling array of shapes and patterns.
For more information visit:
art.tfl.gov.uk
Gibson/Martelli re-imagine Dazzle camouflage as tribal
markings for invisible performers, moving within installations
activated by a special App. ‘MAN A’ takes as its starting
point the relationship between man and his environment,
exploring the use of camouflage, warpaint and tattoos
- seen through the prism of neo-tribalism. The subject is
hidden in plain sight, the pattern used to confound the eye
rather than conceal, to give power to the wearer rather than
diminish them.Their work has been shown at Selfridges,
The Barbican, You/Me/It Institut Jozef Sefan, Ljubljana,
Slovenia and a new show at Union Gallery - a site-specific
installation featuring vinyl wall prints referencing military
Dazzle camouflage, sculptural objects and motion captured
contemporary dance performance activated by a custom
augmented reality mobile application.
Go to MAN A mini site and download the App.
‘MAN A’ Gibson/Martelli 17 January - 28 March 2015
UNION Gallery
94 Teesdale Street
London E2 6PU
For more information visit:
gibsonmartelli.com/MANA
New Year Edition 2015
The Omnipendent
The Omnipendent
Plot
José Damasceno at Holborn Library
Double Bill
Late last year Omni produced a number of works for an
installation, entitled Plot, by South American artist José
Damasceno at Holborn Library. Inspired by his research into
London’s architecture and social history, the work was found
in different areas of the library, leading visitors on a journey
through working spaces up into the former auditorium, once
used for Hammer Horror double-bill film screenings.
Existing at first on the peripheries of vision of regular
library users, Plot draws visitors deeper into the building
on a disorienting journey. For the inside of the library we
printed and computer cut 40 foamex figures which were
suspended from the ceiling, shifting perspective and
transforming the familiar into something alien. Outside the
building, Omni produced a large area of computer cut
Lawrence Weiner at SLG
Wall Sculpture
vinyl, designed for application to uneven surfaces such
as brick work, which was installed by a specialist abseiling
team. The work proved so popular that its removal, due for
late November, has been postponed indefinitely.
The work was commissioned by Artangel who produce
exceptional projects by outstanding contemporary artists
in countless forms of media in a wide range of sites and
situations. Over the past two decades they have generated
some of the most talked about, contentious and acclaimed
art of recent times, including work by Matthew Barney,
Jeremy Deller, Steve McQueen, Michael Landy, Brian Eno and
Rachel Whiteread. We look forward to working with Artangel
in the very near future.
ALL IN DUE COURSE
For more information visit:
artangel.org.uk
Late in 2014 the South London Gallery held a solo exhibition by acclaimed American artist and reluctant pioneer of
conceptual art Lawrence Weiner. Internationally regarded,
Weiner has an expansive following that reaches across
several generations. ALL IN DUE COURSE presented
a series of his recent striking wall ‘sculptures’. Mainly
using paint or (as in this case) vinyl, Weiner’s works carve
walls with thought, presenting provocative texts that
are open to interpretation by the viewer. The sculptures
were seen across the main and first floor galleries, and
continued outdoors, running along the expansive
Victorian brick wall of the SLG’s Fox Garden. Further
beyond the gallery there was an off-site work on the
façade of the semi-derelict former Peckham Road Fire
Station, located diagonally opposite the SLG.
Omni were proud to produce and install the vinyl inside
and outside the gallery. At around 25 meters wide the
massive work in the main gallery required particular skill in its
production and installation as just a few millimeters discrepancy could have proved a disaster. Fortunately our crew
were equal to the task and, having also produced work for
his show at London’s Lisson Gallery back in 2013, we hope
to work with Mr Weiner in the not too distant future.
For more information visit:
southlondongallery.org
New Year Edition 2015
The Omnipendent
The Omnipendent
Cutting Edge
AJ Architecture Tomorrow
Sustainable
Commissioned on behalf of The Architects’ Journal, Pipers
Design created a flexible and sustainable exhibition which
showcased the work of 79 practices from around the globe.
With a focus on the unbuilt projects of the future, Architecture
Tomorrow ran for three days in October during MIPIM UK
2014 at Olympia London. Omni were involved from an early
stage, transforming Piper’s concepts into an eye catching
exhibition, covering some 150 square metres, that, as
well as being aesthetically pleasing, used environmentally
conscious materials for pretty much the whole show.
on individual display boards and captions that were printed
on recycled grey board. The machine cut thousands of
holes in the supporting panels to create peg boards and the
display panels were hung from the structure using, custom
made pegs with the tips painted red complimenting the AJ
branding. As well as the extensive concertina boards and
display panels we also produced a free standing structure
behind the reception desk, built a 12 metre wide wall with
supports for a plasma screen and finally installed the
whole scheme.
In the Groove
It was stimulating and (at times) challenging to work so
closely with Pipers Design on the project, but ultimately
very satisfying, as the exhibition was very well received
which the following testimonials confirm.
The panel structures were created from a recycled
honeycomb board that was cut and fabricated using our
advanced Kongsberg digital cutting machine. A special
“V Grooving” tool was used to make perfect 45 degree
angles enabling us to a produce a perfect concertina
pattern which, with the inherent rigidity of the board itself,
gave stability without the need to build a cumbersome (and
costly) wooden frame. Over 100 schemes were presented
“Architecture Tomorrow is perfect for Mipim UK. Our projects were beautifully displayed with
those of our peers, and the exhibition provides a fascinating snapshot of future
developments. The stand reached a wide audience, and our clients have said how much
they enjoyed seeing more of our work.”
Ben Adams, Founding Director, Ben Adams Architects “The stand was great and we had lots of interesting conversations with visitors. I’d say that in
total we made 3 or 4 contacts with people that might have a chance of leading to new work.
I thought the stand was good as it allowed us to have a presence equal to that of much
larger practices.”
Ben Ridley, Architecture for London
For more information visit:
piperdesign.co.uk
architectsjournel.co.uk
New Year Edition 2015
The Omnipendent
The Omnipendent
Art Of Conservation
Here Today...at The Old Sorting Office
A recent exhibition, Here Today… at the Old Sorting
Office, New Oxford Street, marked 50 years of the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species with over 50 internationally celebrated contemporary artists including George
Condo, Tracey Emin, Julian Opie, Gavin Turk, Leyla
Aliyeva and Sir Peter Blake, producing and contributing work. There was also the opportunity to see Andy
Warhol’s Endangered Species work from the early 1980’s.
Founded in 1948, The International Union for Conservation
of Nature is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation. Throughout 2014 the IUCN celebrated
the significant contribution of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ in guiding conservation action and policy
decisions over the past 50 years. The IUCN Red List is an
invaluable conservation resource, a health check for our
planet.
Omni produced work for two of the artists. Hailing from
Azerbaijan, artist and prime mover behind the exhibition,
Leyla Aliyeva, presented her work entitled Life 2014 in a
specially constructed room set for which we printed and
installed a vinyl graphic on the walls, ceiling and floor
which enveloped the space with spectacular effect. Gavin
Turk produced a wallpaper with a Warholesque image of
a panda, cunningly entitled Pandy Warhol, which Omni
printed and installed in another room set.
Curated by Artwise’s Susie Allen, Laura Culpan and Dea
Vanagan, in support of the IUCN Red List charity, and
supported by Baku Magazine, the exhibition challenged
common perceptions of the current state of our environment. Through a multi sensory, interactive and powerful
experience featuring today’s most evocative art, design,
and ideas, Here Today… presented possible solutions for
the future.
Photos Thierry Bal
History in the Making
The 12th Omni Terrier Derby
Record Turnout
Run at the historic Epsom Race Course, home of the worldfamous Derby, the Omni Terrier Derby has become an
essential feature of the sporting and social calendar. From
its inception in 2003 the races were run in front of the grandstand as part of the Epsom Trainers Open Day along with
several other attractions such as the Shetland Pony Derby.
However since changes to the format of the event 3 years
ago the Terrier Derby has been run as a stand alone
event and has gone from strength to strength. The 2014
running, held in August, attracted a record turnout of over
70 dogs chasing a lure towed by a (not so) state of the art
contraption using a converted car starter motor.
Heritage
For more information visit:
heretoday.org
artwisecurators.com
In the true tradition of the actual Derby, Leo is a brother to the
2012 winner Widget, also owned by Janice and Darren. Thus,
in its relatively short history, the Omni Terrier Derby has mirrored the tradition and heritage of The Derby which has been
run since 1780. What price on an Omni Terrier Derby 2315??
Save the Date
The Omni Terrier Derby will be back on Sunday August
30th 2015. If you have a terrier(s) up to 15” at the shoulder
then bring them along or just come and enjoy the fun with
the Terrier Racing set. It is a hilarious spectacle for audience
and participants alike with a raffle, food, and other attractions including the best turned out dog competition
Just go to terrierderby.com for more details.
Omni would like to thank Farm Fencing & Country
Store, Celtic Contractors, Windmill Farm Kennels &
Cattery, SCG Flooring, and McGee Demolition for their
continued support of the Omni Terrier Derby.
“If you have never seen it
before, terrier racing is one of
the great spectator sports”
Peter Thomas - Racing Post
New Year Edition 2015
Illustration: Barney Coles